"Have you stopped crying?"
Su’s father asked softly from the other side; when his daughter cries, his own heart twists in pain.
"Um... I’m done."
"Xiao Yin hasn’t returned yet?"
"Huh, soon."
"Are Shuangshuang and Huang Huang doing well?"
"...Good!"
"Okay, that’s good. The college courses might be easy, but you should study them seriously."
"Hmm."
Listening on, Su Xiaong’s eyes beca wet again, "Dad..."
"Hmm..."
"You should co to Beijing, you’re all alone at ho, it’s so lonely..."
As Su Xiaong spoke, tears stread down again. She knew how much her dad dreaded loneliness...
Especially when seeing the WeChat ssages Dad sent to Mom.
"Ah, you really are..."
"Dad, let the store be looked after by Brother Ah Yong and Brother Hong Shu..."
"Alright, alright, girl, I’ll discuss it with your mom later, okay?"
Su’s father sighed lightly.
"Hmm!"
With these words, Su Xiaong managed to stop her tears, said a few more words, and then ended the call.
Su’s mother brought a dish out, glanced at Su Xiaong, "What are you doing?"
"Feeding Huang Huang milk."
"Feeding milk makes your eyes red?"
"He bit !"
Su’s mother raised an eyebrow doubtfully, not sure if she was telling the truth.
Prince Huang had been nursing with closed eyes, but upon hearing Su Xiaong’s words, he opened his eyes to stare at her.
Su Xiaong felt a little guilty and looked away.
"How long until Shixiu gets back?"
"He’s already on his way, it might be a bit congested at this ti."
Su Xiaong said.
Su’s mother washed her hands, sat on the sofa, took Huang Huang, who had finished eating, and wiped his mouth.
Su’s mother knew Huang Huang had a rather aloof nature and worried that her absence in his life for a while would result in him not recognizing her as his grandma.
But unexpectedly, when Huang Huang saw Su’s mother, he didn’t cry or fuss and was quite happy to be held by her.
Compared to Shuangshuang’s cheerful deanor, Huang Huang brought Su’s mother more pride.
"Oh, right, Mom, do you rember that grandpa who saved last ti?"
"I rember, I was just planning to ntion this to you. Last ti your dad and I left straight away, didn’t have ti to thank him. We should find so ti to visit him."
Su’s mother rembered this elderly man even though she only knew he lived alone on Jiuling Mountain.
Afterwards, Su Xiaong seldom brought it up again.
Every so often, when Su’s mother thought about it, she would feel inclined to show her gratitude.
"The grandpa is sick!"
"Sick? What’s wrong?"
Su’s mother paused for a mont.
"It’s a cardiovascular issue, said it’s not very serious, but he’s hospitalized. I think it’s quite serious for soone of his age..."
Su Xiaong felt this way, but Bai Shunyuan spoke of it quite lightly, not the tone of a true grandson!
"How did you learn about this?"
Su’s mother listened to Su Xiaong’s not very certain tone, suspecting it wasn’t a conclusion she got from direct contact with the elderly gentleman.
"Oh, you know that naughty boy who caused so much trouble for last ti?"
"...The one who dragged you to sing karaoke?"
Su’s mother rembered Xiao ng complaining about such a person, but she hadn’t ntioned the na.
"Yeah, coincidentally, he’s also surnad Bai! Mom, I find it strange, look, your surna is Bai, you’re so great! Grandpa Bai is so kind too! But Bai Shunyuan, that scoundrel, is also surnad Bai! Truly an insult to the Bai surna!"
Su’s mother’s body stiffened, "So... what’s the boy’s na?"
"Bai Shunyuan, the na sounds terrible!"
Su Xiaong exclaid angrily.
Bai... Shunyuan...
Despite it being long ago, Su’s mother still had an impression of that na.
Shunyuan...
When the child was born, his father nad him.
"Upon gains and losses in an instant, journeying far with caution."
From Du Fu’s poem...
"So the grandpa... is also surnad Bai?"
When Su’s mother asked this, her eyes rested on Huang Huang in her arms, the tone sounded calm, but her heart was tumultuous.
"Yes, didn’t I ntion it?"
Su Xiaong blinked, still unaware of her mother’s anomaly.
"Perhaps you did..."
She simply didn’t pay attention.
"ng ng, find out which hospital Grandpa Bai is in."
"Oh, okay, I’ll text Bai Shunyuan later. Uncle and I already agreed, we’ll visit him tomorrow afternoon. Mom, would you like to co with us?"
"If I go, no one will take care of the kids, you go ahead."
"...Oh, right."
Su Ma placed Huang Huang back into the crib and went into the bedroom.
Once the bedroom door closed, she leaned against it, and the scabs on her heart began to bleed again.
She knew Dad’s cardiovascular issues were always a concern, she knew...
How many years... she never dared to count carefully.
Counting would produce a number that was terrifying...
She knew there would be a day like this. When she left with the harshest and cruelest words twenty years ago, along with Su Chengji, she knew there would definitely be a day like this.
The scar she deliberately ignored in her heart would split open again, and the blood would overflow again.
"If the child isn’t aborted! Don’t ever think of entering this house again in your life! I, Bai Fengmao, don’t have a shaless daughter like you! If you leave, never co back!"
"I’m not coming back then! A dad who forces his daughter to abort a child, I don’t want him either!!"
She left decisively, and that step took twenty years...
The daughter was like the father, stubborn as an ox, and she... even more so.
It’s not that she didn’t miss him, she missed him to the point of madness, to the point of pain, waking up crying in the middle of the night without realizing it.
But she still didn’t have the courage to see her father.
Sha.
She was his sha...
Su Ma lowered her head, and tears fell silently, hitting the floor.
It was these heavy words that made her unable to rush to the hospital when she heard about her father’s illness.
That’s why she didn’t want to co to Beijing, afraid of hearing news about the Bai Family, afraid of hearing news about her father...
She closed her eyes, washed her face in the bathroom, and when she ca out, Yin Shixiu was back...
The next afternoon, Su Xiaong and Yin Shixiu went together to the hospital where Grandpa Bai was staying.
When they arrived, Grandpa was alone in the ward, staring out the window. It was unknown what he was thinking, but he looked very sad.
Su Xiaong saw this and thought it was caused by Grandpa Bai’s discomfort, feeling very distressed.
"Grandpa Bai!"
As soon as Grandpa Bai saw Su Xiaong, his spirits lifted imdiately!
"ng ng?"
Su Xiaong ran to the bedside, nodded vigorously, "Grandpa, it’s been so long, I missed you so much!"
Bai Fengmao reached out to touch Su Xiaong’s head, "This little girl has gotten more sprightly, and after having children, she looks slimr too!"
"Hehe!"
Su Xiaong squinted her eyes and smiled at him, holding Grandpa Bai’s hand, "Grandpa, why did you fall ill?"
"Aren’t old people supposed to be like this?"
"You’re not old at all!"
In no ti, Bai Fengmao was coaxed into laughter by Su Xiaong.
Yin Shixiu placed the fruit basket and so nutritious items aside.
"Grandpa, when you’re discharged, Shixiu and I will bring the kids to visit you!"
Su Xiaong said, then suddenly thought of sothing, quickly took out her phone, flipped through the album and handed it to Bai Fengmao, "Grandpa, look, my son and daughter!"
"Oh my, how cute! These two babies look like you!"
"Really, really?"
Su Xiaong was excited.
Yin Shixiu chuckled lightly on the side.
Bai Fengmao glanced at Yin Shixiu and casually asked, "These days, have you made sure my ng ng suffered no wrongs, Fourth Young Master of the Yin Family?"
Yin Shixiu cleared his throat, "I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare."
"You better not let her suffer."
Bai Fengmao looked at the kids’ photos, smiling, but his words to Yin Shixiu were rather cold.
Su Xiaong shot Yin Shixiu a proud glance: See, I have back-up!
Yin Shixiu found it amusing but kept a straight face, responding however Elder Bai instructed.
Seeing Grandpa Bai, Su Xiaong couldn’t stop talking, like a dam releasing water, flowing endlessly.
Unexpectedly, Bai Fengmao enjoyed watching Su Xiaong, sotis exaggerating her gestures so much that his old eyes would widen!
Completely cooperative!
With this cooperation, she beca even more enthusiastic.
Yin Shixiu tried to interrupt a few tis but seeing Bai Fengmao squinting, he wisely sat quietly and listened.
Fortunately, Grandpa Bai wasn’t out of his mind, and as the ti got late, he subtly asked, "Are the two babies still breastfeeding?"
Upon hearing this, Su Xiaong imdiately stood up, "Ah, they are! Grandpa Bai, I can’t chat with you much more, I need to go ho to feed the kids! I’ll visit you another day!"
Bai Fengmao squinted his eyes with a smile, "Good, good!"
Though reluctant to leave Grandpa Bai, Su Xiaong was tied to her children and didn’t dare linger.
After Yin Shixiu took Su Xiaong away, the ward returned to silence.
The liveliness Xiao ng brought was taken away with her departure.
Only emptiness was left.
Until it was dinner ti, the ward door was knocked on again.
In ca a greying middle-aged man and an elegant woman, Bai Fengmao’s eldest son Bai Zhengxiang and his wife Tan Qiani, both nearing fifty.
"Dad."
"You’re here..."
After Su Xiaong and Yin Shixiu returned ho, Su Ma asked about the situation.
Xiao ng said Grandpa Bai was in good spirits, no need to worry too much.
But from Yin Shixiu’s words, Su Ma could tell, the old man’s... condition was not optimistic.
Her eyes imdiately welled up, then she turned to the kitchen. Though it was just a mont, Yin Shixiu did see it and was taken aback.
Su Ma found it hard to contain her emotions in the kitchen...
After much thought, she took off her apron, changed clothes, and said to Su Xiaong and Yin Shixiu, "You’ll have to make dinner yourselves, I’m going out for a bit to buy sothing, don’t wait up for ."
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